The Government has put its plan to merge New Zealand councils on hold until after the 7 November election, leaving mayors who rushed to meet its deadline angry about the time and money they spent.
Local Government Minister Simon Watts and RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop said on Thursday 24 September that Cabinet would not decide on any of the 18 “Head Start” merger proposals councils lodged in August. Cabinet will now look at them in early 2027, RNZ reported, and only if the coalition is returned to office.
“While the overall quality of proposals was high, none came with the unanimous view of the region, and some needed further analysis before they can progress,” Watts said.
He told RNZ the timing of the election was part of the reason. “We don’t want to be making decisions this close to the election, and we’ve got a few gaps in the proposals that we want to work with councils on.”
The gaps the Government named are fair and effective representation, streamlined governance, and how regional council functions would be handed over and delivered, interest.co.nz reported. Ministers say they still expect changes to be in place before the October 2028 local elections, and regional councillors will not be elected at those elections.
Bishop said the fallback plan for regions that did not volunteer is still being worked on, RNZ reported. “Work is also continuing on the backstop process for areas that do not progress through Head Start.”
The pause is a sharp change of tone from May. On 5 May 2026 the two ministers gave councils three months to propose their own reorganisation into larger unitary authorities, which would take over the work of regional councils. Their message to councils at the time was blunt. “Lead your own reform, or we will do it for you. Either way, change is coming,” the ministers said.
Councils took them at their word. The deadline passed on 9 August with 48 councils lodging proposals and 17 staying out, according to 1News. NEWS WIRE covered the scramble at the time, as councils hunted for merger partners with eight days left and Hamilton was left facing a plan it did not write.
The work was not cheap. Documents released to 1News used the costs of 11 councils to estimate the whole process at about $9.1 million once staff time is counted, 1News reported. Wellington region councils spent nearly $250,000 on their proposal, and the five biggest Canterbury councils spent a combined $428,000, the Otago Daily Times reported.
Wellington Mayor Andrew Little, whose region had been weighing a super-city merger, said ratepayers deserved an answer, 1News reported. “Wellington ratepayers are entitled to ask why they were asked to pay for an exercise the Government was not prepared to complete.”
On Friday he went further, telling RNZ the Government lacked support inside Cabinet. “They clearly didn’t have the numbers to enact reform, so consequently after all the effort that local government has put into it, we don’t have reform.”
Watts rejected that. “I don’t think it’s sensible … that the New Zealand public would expect the government to rush a decision, we’ve got to get this right,” he told RNZ.
Porirua Mayor Anita Baker, who told RNZ she had been discussing amalgamation for 16 years, was the most scathing. “They are cowards not following through with this,” she told Newsroom.
In Canterbury the reaction was split. Selwyn Mayor Lydia Gliddon said councils had been asked to move quickly, only for the decision to be put off. Ashburton, which stayed out of Head Start, felt vindicated. “This was why Ashburton District Council chose not to enter the Head Start process,” Mayor Liz McMillan said, adding that the process had been too fast.
Local Government New Zealand president Rehette Stoltz said councils had been given an unrealistically tight timeframe while dealing with other pressures. “Local government reform is too important to be subject to a constantly changing process,” she told interest.co.nz.
Not everyone was unhappy. The Public Service Association, which represents many council staff, welcomed the pause. Assistant secretary Tom Buckley said the union had worried about rushed mergers that could take decades to undo.
The Opposition used the delay to question the Government’s competence. Labour’s local government spokesperson Tangi Utikere told Newsroom the process had been “a false start, not a head start”. “They gave councils three months to spend time and money planning major structural change, only to pull the plug on getting anything done,” he told interest.co.nz.
Labour leader Chris Hipkins told RNZ he would back mergers that communities supported, but not forced amalgamations that caused chaos.
The decision means the future shape of local government is now an election question. A re-elected National-led coalition would take up the proposals in early 2027 and push on with abolishing elected regional councils, while a change of government would leave the whole programme open to review. If local government matters to how you vote, take our voting tool to see which party matches your views.
Should the Government have made a call on council mergers before the election, or was waiting the right move? Tell us what you think in the comments below.
This article was written by AI, briefed to report the facts, hopefully without some of the bias people bring to the job π
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